Title in the Language of the Records

Stato Civile di Catanzaro, Italia

Collection Time Period

This collection of civil registration records covers the years 1809-1865.

Record Description

This collection includes civil registration (stato civile) of births, marriages, and deaths within the custody of the State Archive of Cuneo (Archivio di Stato di Cuneo). Includes some indexes, ten-year indexes, marriage banns, and supplemental documents (allegati). Contained within this collection are records from 40 comuni (towns) within the jurisdiction of the Tribunale di Saluzzo (Saluzzo Courthouse) for the years 1802-1813. The collection also contains records from 30 comuni (towns) within the jurisdiction of the Tribunale di Mondoví (Mondoví Courthouse) primarily for the years 1864-1900. Prior to the unification of Italy in the 1860s, many of the records are in French, but most of the records are in Italian with some Latin included.

The registration of birth, marriage, and death were kept on separate registers. Supplemental files include a title page followed by several documents such as:

Notes from hospitals regarding births or deaths

Notes from other towns or foreign countries (if a birth or death did not occur in the regular place of residence)

Marriage files

Marriage banns

Declarations of intention to marry

Other certificates

Generally, at the end of a civil register there is an alphabetical index by surname; however, not all years are indexed for each record type. Most records follow a generally accepted format, which is handwritten in narrative style and in later years in formatted records. Some of the original records were damaged due to natural elements at the time of filming, therefore, some information may have been lost or hard to read, but for the most part they are readable.This collection may be searched by name of ancestors and also by browsing images in FamilySearch Historical Records.

Record Content

The key genealogical facts found on birth records may include:

Date of birth

Place of birth

Name of the child

Parents’ names

The key genealogical facts found on marriage records may include:

Date of marriage

Place of marriage

Names of the groom and bride

Ages of the groom and bride

Residence of all

Parents’ names

Witnesses’ names

The key genealogical facts found on death records may include:

Date of death

Place of death

Time of death

Cause of death

Sometimes the parents’ names

How to Use the Record

Begin your search by finding your ancestors in the index. Use the locator information in the index (such as page, entry, or certificate number) to locate your ancestors in the birth, marriage or death records.

Compare the information in the birth record to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination. Be aware that as with any index, transcription errors may occur.

When you have located your ancestor’s birth record, carefully evaluate each piece of information about them. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors.

For example:

Use the birth date along with the place of birth to find the family in census records.

Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records.

The father’s occupation can lead you to other types of records such as employment records or military records.

The parents' birth places can tell you former residences and can help to establish a migration pattern for the family.

It is often helpful to extract the information on all children with the same parents. If the surname is unusual, you may want to compile birth entries for every person of the same surname and sort them into families based on the names of the parents. Continue to search the birth records to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same or other generations who were born in the same county or nearby.

Keep in mind:

The information in birth records is usually reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant.

Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800s.

There is also some variation in the information given from record to record.

Record History

When Napoleon annexed large portions of Italy beginning in 1804, he also initiated the process of keeping civil records. These records do not exist in areas where the Emperor did not rule. After his defeat in 1815, many areas discontinue civil registration. Italian civil registration began again officially as Italy became a unified country in 1860; however, in some areas it did not start until 1866. By law, the original record was kept by the municipality (comune), and a copy was sent to the courthouse (tribunale). This collection of civil registration is housed at several provincial archives (Tribunale).

Why the Record Was Created

The civil registration recording was implemented by the government to record the vital events of births, marriages, marriage banns, and deaths occurring in the life of the area’s citizens.

Record Reliability

The civil registration records are an excellent source of accurate data on names, dates, and places for genealogical research in Catanzaro. However, before 1860, when civil registration became law for the entire country, it is suggested to research the church records.

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